Onondaga County Democrats advance charter changes to curb executive power

Onondaga County Democrats are trying to pull key levers of power away from County Executive Ryan McMahon, targeting who fills legislative vacancies, how district lines are drawn and how long one person can hold the county’s top job. The result could reshape who controls appointments, redistricting and future county leadership in a government where the county executive serves as chief executive officer and chief budget officer.

The three charter changes advanced Tuesday by the Ways and Means Committee will go to the full Onondaga County Legislature on Tuesday, June 2. Democrats now hold a 10-7 majority in the 17-member body after their November 2025 victory ended decades of Republican control, giving them the votes to press a broader rewrite of county rules.

One proposal would impose a limit of three consecutive four-year terms on the county executive. It would not be retroactive, so McMahon’s two current terms would not count against him. If voters approve the change and it takes effect in 2030, the term limit would not block McMahon from continuing to seek re-election before then, and he could theoretically remain in office until 2042 if he keeps winning.

County legislative Chair Nicole Watts said the push was about “good governance.” Democratic Majority Leader Nodesia Hernandez said she plans to introduce a similar term-limit bill for the county comptroller at the July meeting so voters could see that question in November as well.

The second proposal would change the county charter so vacancies in the legislature are filled by the legislature itself, rather than by the county executive. Democratic lawmaker Gregg Erikson argued that the body meant to check the executive should not leave replacement appointments to the executive branch. Republican Minority Leader Brian May warned that shifting that power to lawmakers could create the same favoritism risk in a different form.

The third bill would revise the reapportionment commission process, a move Democrats say would change who has a hand in drawing future legislative lines. The county already redrew its district maps on Dec. 3, 2024, and those new maps took effect for the 2025 election cycle and beyond.

Any charter change would still need legislative approval and then voter approval in November 2026. McMahon could veto the term-limit bill, and overriding that veto would take 12 votes, or two-thirds of the legislature. The deadline to place referendums on the November ballot is in August.

The fight comes after lawmakers approved term limits for their own chamber in 2025, when they extended legislators’ terms from two years to four and limited them to three consecutive terms. Voters approved that change in November 2025, and it is set to take effect in 2026. A similar 2024 package that would have capped the county executive, comptroller and legislators at three consecutive four-year terms was postponed.